Split Shadow
by minitiffanydog
Summary: Kuroko had always known that he would break one day. Keeping all of those emotions bottled up would lead to a huge explosion once they were released. So what happens when a certain group of people are tortured in front of his very eyes? Rated M for violence.
1. Introduction

Today was the day. The GoM had decided to meet up at the park near Kuroko's house and walk to Maji Burger together. Kagami had been invited as well, but he declined because his father was visiting him for the first time in a while. Kuroko fully expected at least some of the rainbow power rangers to arrive before him, but he was the first one there. They had agreed to meet at noon, and there were only 5 minutes left.

 _Even Aomine-kun would be here by now... where is everyone?_ Hearing a nearby bush rustle, Kuroko whirled around. He could've sworn he saw he saw a flash of skin, but he shrugged it off. It was one minute past their meeting time. "Minna-san... where are you?" The bush rustled once more. He knew right away that the people hiding behind- or in- that bush wasn't any member of the GoM. Backing away from the bush, he said, "Who's there?" Then he bumped into something.

Looking up, he saw a familiar face... and a fist flying towards his.

Then everything went black.


	2. Chapter 1

*Kuroko's POV*

Waking up, Kuroko couldn't see anything. The room he was in was pitch dark. Remembering what happened the day before, he tried to walk away from the bed he was laying down on, but it seemed that he was being restrained. Struggling against the chains, Kuroko swore underneath his breath. Other than the mystery of why all of the GoM were late, there was a chance that they were abducted as well. Were they all right? Hearing a door creak open, Kuroko looked up. _It's dark outside, too._

"I see you're awake, Kuroko. I take it you had a good nap?"

Hearing a voice that he knew very well, he, once again, fought against the chains.

Struggling to keep his composure, Kuroko replied, "How could I have a good nap when it was forced upon me?"

"Fair enough." Kuroko could hear his footsteps... he was probably pacing around the room. "But, Kuroko... I wonder how long you can stay as stoic as you normally are? Especially if I showed you... nevermind!" Laughing hysterically, he walked out of the room and slammed the door shut.

He was a genius, renowned for his high IQ and foul play. _Hanamiya Makoto_...!

/

Hello!

This is my first fanfiction, so please send me any critiques that you have~

(also, I had this story already written, so I'm just posting all of it on here in one go. is that possible? this is my first time using too)


	3. Chapter 2

*GoM POV*

The last thing the GoM remembered was being surrounded by people who looked like yakuza. After that, they were knocked out, shoved into individual potato sacks, and brought to... this place. The one similar thought running through each of their heads was, _Where are we?_

While they would have loved to see what kind of environment they were placed in, they were currently blindfolded and hanging by their wrists in some sort of contraption. They didn't know if they were alone. But it couldn't hurt to try, right?

"I-is anyone there? Where are we? Does anyone know?" Kise was the first to speak. Since he was a famous model, he had gotten himself into situations where he was almost kidnapped, but he had gotten out of them easily. His kidnappers would've always made some stupid blunder and allowed him to escape, as well as beat up the criminals. But this was different. He couldn't do anything if he couldn't see and was hanging from his wrists, right?

"Kise? Is that you?" Midorima's voice rang through the room.

"Kise-chin? Mido-chin? Where are we?"

"Oi, Kise, I hope this didn't happen because you're famous."

"Ryouta, both of us are quite used to these kinds of situations. With the five of us, we should be able to get out easily, no?"

"Midorimacchi! Murasakibaracchi! Aominecchi! Akashicchi!"

"Yes, Ryouta, we're all here and well. But more importantly, where is Tetsuya? If they assaulted us and saw the Phantom Sixth Man after they successfully captured us, there's a high probability that Tetsuya was abducted as well... We should be fine on our own, but Tetsuya..."His words were left unspoken. If it was the five of them, they'd be fine. At least they had company. But if Kuroko was alone...

 _Creak._ The sound of the door opening. Their heads instinctively turned towards the source of the sound.

"Ohaiyo, minna~ How are you doing? Are you comfortable? Aha, silly me, of course not! Anyway, I've come to spoon feed you your meals. Don't complain, unless you want to be hurt."

They didn't mind being spoon-fed mystery meals. They were worried about that last thing he said. About not wanting to be hurt.

"Um, Kidnapper-san, did you happen to bring someone other than the five of us with you to this place?"

Hearing a giggle coming from "Kidnapper-san", each member of the GoM began to nervously sweat. "Another person, you say...? Perhaps it's the Phantom Sixth Man whom all of you hold so dear? Ahhh, I've wanted to break him ever since that match against Seirin... I hope you're all prepared."

By now, they figured out who he was (even Murasakibara).

"Tch. Like you can make us submit to you. Even we didn't physically hurt them-"Suddenly, Aomine felt like his hand had been pierced. Screaming, the other GoM members decided not to voice their complaints about Kirisaki Daiichi and instead voice their concern for their teammate.

"Aominecchi are you alright?"

"Mine-chin, are you okay?"

"Aomine, what happened? And just to be clear, I'm not asking because I care, okay?"

"Daiki, what just happened? Are you alright?"

Unable to speak because of the pain, tears rolled down from his blindfolded eyes. He managed to whisper, "Hand... pain... unbearable..!"

"Oh, did I fail to mention the rules? I suppose I should apologize. Speaking against this team will earn you a shot to the hand. Making plans to escape will earn you a shot to the calf. Actually managing to escape from your restraints earns you a shot to the stomach. And getting extremely close to escaping, but being captured... leads to death."

*Kuroko's POV*

His thoughts of escape were interrupted by the sound of his former light yelling in pain."Aomine-kun?"

"Hm? I guess it's started. Would you like to go see them?"

"Yes, but could you please let them go?" Standing up from his bed, his supervisor handcuffed his wrists and tied his ankles together. "Ano... why can't I just walk?"

"You'll see when you get there."

His curious eyes glanced around nervously. Where were they? What had made Aomine scream like he did?

"Kuroko, we're here."His supervisor opened the door and tossed him in. "Hanamiya-san, you can take of this brat from now on."

"Minna-san! Are you alright?" Kuroko didn't care about what would happen to him. He just wanted his friends to be around, he noticed how tense the atmosphere was. Then he realized. He heard a popping sound while he was in his room... his room was about 50 steps away from this one, which was illuminated. That popping sound.. was probably the sound of a gun with a two and two together, his eyes immediately went to Aomine. His hand injury was hard to miss. A hole, right in the middle of his palm, with blood oozing out... dripping, _dripping_ , _**dripping**_.

"Tetsu... run..."

 _Pop._

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHGHAHGAHA!"

"Aomine-kun!"

"I said the rules, didn't I? Mentioning escape counts as planning your escape. A shot to the calf." Turning to Kuroko, he smiled. "I wonder how long you'll last, Ku-ro-ko-kun~" Turning and walking out of the doorway, he called to his lackeys, "Tie him to that chair... yeah, just like that. Make sure he's extremely secure, this one's a sharp one. And do not touch the others. I will be the one to break all of them."

 _Slam._ The door closed. _Jingle._ Ironically enough, the chains that bound Kuroko from helping his friends sounded like the bells that brought him so much happiness on Christmas when he was a young child who believed in couldn't help it. It'd been a while, but this situation called for face was no longer a blank sheet. His emotions were clearly written for all to see. And no matter what, his emotions starting to be shown was not a good thing.


	4. Chapter 3

*Hanamiya's POV*

It was Day Two. Hanamiya decided to let them have one day of peace, and then the real fun would begin. The gleam of his silver tools brought a grin to his face. Today was the day he finally got his revenge on both the prodigies and the shadow. How long will they last?

*GoM+Kuroko POV*

"It's a good thing Kagami-kun didn't tag along yesterday, ne, minna-san?"

"Indeed, we'll have to hope that Bakagami realizes something is wrong and contacts the police."

"Daiki, I'd advise against saying something like that. Remember the rules?"

"From now on, the rules don't really matter, you'll be hurt anyway." If they had their feet on solid ground, they would have jumped a few feet into the air. Hanamiya had somehow managed to sneak into the room without making a sound, and the effect he had was similar to Kuroko's low presence...Kuroko was the only one who could see, of course.

So, naturally, he tried to tell them what the monster that was Hanamiya Makoto was holding."Minna-san! He's holding a bunch of... silver... things!" Taking a deep breath, Kuroko pried, "Hanamiya-san, what are those for?"

Surprised at Kuroko's willpower to stay in one piece, Hanamiya inwardly sighed. _Well, this is Kuroko. I shouldn't have assumed that this would be easy._ "Kuroko, you're surprisingly composed. I wonder what I could do to make you shaky, sweating, and crying?"

Walking over to Kise, Hanamiya lifted Kise's shirt and traced his stomach. Deciding to bring Kuroko's restrainment chair closer to the scene, he noticed how light Kuroko was. It felt as if he wasn't holding anything but a chair. Lifting up Kise's shirt once again, Hanamiya held up a small knife."Iie! IIE! DON'T!" Kuroko spoke in a tone that, if he hadn't been restrained, would have seriously been terrifying. But what could he do when he was restrained?

Turning to Kuroko, Hanamiya laughed, "What can you do anyway? Okay, here's the game plan: I'll torture one for an hour each day. Afterwards, I'll pour salt water over their wounds. I'll make sure they're treated properly, so we can continue the next day without worrying about them bleeding to death."

"Hanamiya... s-stop... please? Please? If it's money you want, I'll give you as much as you want..." Quivering in fear, Kise laid his last card down on the table.

"Why would I take money when I can break my enemies instead? Truly, there is no greater happiness than the suffering of others." Making a small incision in Kise's stomach, Hanamiya announced, "I will be drawing a puppy on your stomach, Kise."

Yelps and screams of varying intensities came from the suffering model. Slowly, slowly, slowly, the knife etched into his smooth skin and made the details of a cute puppy. First the ears... tilting the knife to get the specific angles needed, digging deeper at certain points, just for the fun of it... Hanamiya sure was enjoying himself. In fact, he was enjoying himself so much that he almost didn't hear the timer that marked the end of an hour. Kise could no longer speak. The pain of having a sharp edge being dug into your skin was too much for him to handle.

Hanamiya snickered, "Even the prodigies are trash when they can't move. Look, the copycat can't even speak! It's too bad that I couldn't get to finish my puppy." Pouring salt water over the puppy, Kuroko couldn't help but notice that it looked like the red puppy with the red eyes had empty eyes with blood flowing out...

Tears flowed out of his eyes. _Kise-kun... I'm so powerless... this is all because of me..._ "Kise-kun, sumimasen..."

"K-K-Kurokocchi, i-it's alright. I'm finE. You h-heard him, he's g-going to keep us alive at the very least."

Kuroko saw through his tough facade. But he appreciated that Kise was trying to do his best to stay sane.


	5. Chapter 4

*Kuroko POV*

 _Isn't there anything I could do for them?_ He watched helplessly as Kise was doused in saltwater. The next target was, no doubt, Midorima. The tsundere, superstitious carrot was tenacious, so he hoped that he managed to hang on.

*No One's POV*

Clapping his hands together, Hanamiya walked over to Midorima. "Yosh! For my next masterpiece, I'll draw a frog and a carrot! How's that sound, Midorima?"

Midorima decided to keep his mouth shut.

"Ehhhh? That's not a nice reaction, you know? I guess I'll have to force the screams out of you..."This time, Hanamiya put a drill against Midorima's stomach. Kuroko couldn't close his eyes. He was too afraid to do so. What would happen in the short duration he wasn't watching?

Pressing the _On_ button, Hanamiya pressed the drill bit into Midorima's skin. Almost instantaneously, a scream that expressed excruciating pain emitted from Midorima's mouth. Kuroko couldn't believe his eyes. How deep was Hanamiya going to put the drill in his stomach? If he wasn't careful, it was going to reach his organs...

Kuroko could see the carrot and the frog taking shape. If the canvas had been wood instead of a human's flesh, this could have been a beautiful form of art. The precise flick of Hanamiya's wrist to add small details. The whirring of the drill. The GoM was hanging onto their sanity just fine, but Kuroko wasn't too sure about his. Watching his friends being hurt like this, he couldn't stand it... _Ding!_ Midorima's hour of torture was over. Like Kise, his wounds were doused in alarming about of blood was flowing out of Midorima. The drill probably didn't reach an organ, but came extremely close to doing so.

Kuroko had been holding it in, but he couldn't stand it anymore. He threw up.


	6. Chapter 5

Following the pattern of those who angered their opponents most, the next one was probably the candy-loving giant, Murasakibara. By now, none of the GoM had the heart to speak. Even Akashi was shivering in fear.

"Hm, Murasakibara, you love candy, don't you?"

"Ehhhhhh? Hai. I do, but why are you asking me?"

"In that case, here. Take this candy."

 _It's probably poisoned,_ Kuroko immediately reasoned _._ There was no way Hanamiya would randomly give his victim candy."Murasakibara-kun, don't!"

Alas, the giant was too hungry and his hunger won over logic. The moment the candy was popped into his mouth, a searing pain flared through his body. He tried to spit it out, but Hanamiya duct taped his mouth."This is a special candy called the "Hardened Poison Candy"! As the name suggests, it is poison in the shape of hard candy. The poison spreads a lot faster than other ones, but it is not fatal. It brings the victim to the brink of death, and gives them loads of pain."

Kuroko held in his second round of vomit. He would hold on... he had a lot of willpower in basketball, and he would have that same willpower right now, , Hanamiya clucked his tongue. "But there's no physical damage... in that case... BRING IN THE GOAT!"

Kuroko almost laughed when he heard that. A goat?

"Seeing you smirking, I assume you don't understand what will happen. I'll pour saltwater on Murasakibara's feet. The goat, wanting the salt, will lick the salt off of the feet. However, its barbed tongue will make the flesh rip off, and it will just keep on going until there's nothing left for it."

Out came the vomit.

Kuroko really did not want to see this. He averted his gaze, only to see a bloody bath of Midorima's blood.

 _Helpless. I'm so weak... can't I do anything? This is all my fault, anyway... isn't there anything I can do?_

Muffled cries came from Murasakibara. Man, that goat must love salt, because it was licking away at his feet at an alarmingly fast pace. His feet would be gone in a matter of 10 minutes."Hanamiya-san... please let them go! Hurt me instead! Please!"

"Ara, ara? Okay then, Kuroko... I suppose I'll slit your throat first, so I won't have to hear your annoying voice ever again..."

Gulping, Kuroko braced himself. The knife was about to cut his throat when all of the GoM yelled, "IIE! DON'T TOUCH KUROKOCCHI/KURO-CHIN/TETSU/KUROKO/TETSUYA!"

"Hm? Is that so? Okay then, I'll leave him alone. Aomine, next is you~"

Kuroko seriously wanted to die.


	7. Chapter 6

He was tired. He was hungry. He wanted to kill Hanamiya.

But most of all, he wanted to kill himself.

 _Why am I always so helpless? They always help me, but why can't I help them?_

Hanamiya could sense his instability. Kuroko hadn't spoken up for a while, he was vomiting more frequently, and tears were streaming down his face. His hair was wet and covering his eyes, and a dangerous aura was coming from him.

Kuroko was so busy wallowing in self-pity (which he rarely did) that he almost didn't notice the flash of shiny silver that flew out of Hanamiya's hand. _Is he randomly throwing darts to imitate Aomine-kun's free form shooting...? What if that hit around his heart? Would it be able to pierce through?_

Luckily, it looked like Hanamiya was a pretty bad shot when it came to darts. He had a supply of 20. One by one, the darts were tossed. One sank into the flesh of his thigh. A scream came from Aomine, similar to the one Kuroko heard on the first day. While Hanamiya was focused on his torturing, Kuroko noticed that a part of the chair was sharp, and was slowly cutting away at his metal restraints.

Another dart hit it's target right below the neck, around the lungs. Luckily, it barely punctured the skin and Aomine could still were only a few darts left.

 _Will these darts hit? Wait, couldn't I just avoid them? Think of this like I'm midair in basketball... use my other senses to twist... and dodge..._!

He twisted right into a dart.

"DAMMIT!" _My first try was a failure, but Tetsu taught me to never give up!_ He managed to avoid the rest of the darts.

"Hmmmmm? What's this? You dodged them? Then you clearly didn't get your needed intake of torture and pain, did you?" Walking towards Aomine, he pondered aloud, "How else could I torture you? Should I drip melting candle-wax on you? Put a centipede in your ear? Tickle you? Rip off your fingernails and toenails one by one?" By now, he was standing right next to here Aomine hung by his wrists.

Twisting his body, Aomine managed to land a solid kick on Hanamiya, and by chance, it hit his balls. "Go to hell, bastard!"

Hanamiya, who was writhing about on the floor, managed to say, "You retaliated... in that case, I will remove your blindfold. I wonder how you'll react?"

 _Swish_. With a flick of his wrist, the hand that was previously drawing intricate details in skin with a knife and drill gracefully threw a piece of cloth on the gasped. He joined Kuroko's barfing around him were his friends. Hurt, crying, but holding on for Kuroko's sake. More than anything, Kuroko cared for his friends. And if they were hurt, he felt the pain as well. He was probably on the verge of breaking.

Aomine tried to not freak out. But suddenly seeing red everywhere... red blood streaming from open wounds on your friends, when you were seeing only black just before...Wouldn't you flip out, too?

He went limp.

"Ao...Aomine-kun?"

"Ne, Kuroko! Isn't Aomine the ace of the Kiseki no Sedai? Why is he so weak-willed, then? The rest of them didn't faint pathetically like he did!" _This is becoming quite enjoyable. I should do this more often._


	8. Chapter 7

_Hasn't Hanamiya-san been forgetting to pour salt water on them? I don't mind, but he hasn't been torturing them for one hour each either... did he just forget or is there some ulterior motive?_ _Akashi-kun is next... if he goes overboard..._

"Ne, Kuroko. You know who's next, right?" Smirking, Hanamiya strutted to where Akashi was. Caressing his cheek, Hanamiya laughed softly. "The demon captain of the Kiseki no Sedai... scissors man-"

Akashi chose that exact moment to butt in. "Scissors man?! Who do you think you are? You may have the upper hand, but heed my words, you will be the one begging for mercy. After all-"

Hanamiya shoved his fingers up Akashi's nostrils. Kuroko frowned. _I should be the only one allowed to touch him..._

*Akashi POV*

His thoughts were left unsaid when fingers were rudely shoved up his nostrils. But in the end, there was nothing to worry about. _After all, we have Tetsuya._

*No One's POV*

 _There's definitely a pattern to how Hanamiya-san inflicts pain upon them... the torture method has been related to the victim up until now... how will he torture Akashi-kun? With scissors?_ Imagining another genius with scissors, Kuroko couldn't help but shudder. _What is it with geniuses being sadistic?!_

"Ne, Akashi. Such brave words come out of your mouth, but your hands are trembling. You're scared, aren't you? You're scared of a lowly Uncrowned General... pathetic!" Licking his lips, Hanamiya, sure enough, picked up a pair of scissors- gardening shears, to be exact. Turning to Kuroko, he inquired, "Kuroko! Which of his eyes do you like better? Wait, it's not like your answer will matter anyway. AhahahaAHAHAHAAHAHA!"

"Hanamiya-san, please don't do what you're about to do. What you're about to do can't be healed. It's inefficient in terms of torturing, right?" Kuroko attempted to change Hanamiya's mind, but to no avail.

"Ahhh, Akashi... you have such beautiful eyes, but why must you make them look so cold and merciless? I think it would look adorned in a crystal case... or even better, in my palms." Using the gardening shears, he cut the blindfold off in one quick _snip_.

 _I have to keep my eyes closed... but the rest, are they okay? I have to check... just for a quick second, and I'll shut my eyes again._

The moment he opened his eyes, he couldn't close them again.

It came as a shock to him, that the Kiseki no Sedai... no, his friends... could ever be brought down to this state. All of his friends were strong. To see them this hurt, injured, helpless... _Just what did he do to them?_

 _Hanamiya Makoto... "flowery truth", huh. What an ironic name._

An almost melodious voice whispered directly into his ear. "You shouldn't have opened your eyes, Akashi. Staying blind to the truth would have been better for your sake..."

Akashi felt something stabbing his eye. He had never felt this much pain, but something told him that the pain he felt was nothing compared to that of his teammates. Nothing compared to the pain they caused Kuroko.

Even so, he couldn't stop the screams.

He could no longer see out of his left eye. It was still in its socket, but he couldn't see.

Something was spinning. An excruciating pain flooded his senses as something was forcibly pulled out of where it belonged.

 _Oh... so I've lost an eye._

"My willpower is s-second only to Tetsuya's. This isn't enough to dishearten me, you scum."

"That's good... that's the spirit, Akashi! I love it when they struggle! It makes it all the more fun when they finally break!" Looking over his shoulder, he noticed that Kuroko was teetering between staying sane and finally breaking. "Sorry, Akashi, looks like I'll have to play with Kuroko first."

*Kuroko POV*

 _Akashi-kun's eye... Akashi-kun... if the eye is the end of his torture for you, I suppose you had it better than the others. Demo,Akashi-kun, what is this ominous feeling I'm getting?_

*No One's POV*

"Kuroko, do you see this eye? Isn't this yellow eye just beautiful? Stop averting your gaze! This thing's a piece of art!"

Kuroko slowly turned around. _Maybe Hanamiya-san is joking._

After seeing what was in front of him, he obviously was not.

A garbled scream escaped Kuroko's mouth. Akashi's perfect yellow eye was set in front of him, placed on the palm of a mongrel. Blood dripped off of it, tainting its beauty.

"Hanamiya. Is this a death wish?" Kuroko emanated anger.

"Of course, not, Kuroko. You can't kill me as you are now, right?" Chuckling, Hanamiya placed Akashi's eye in a jar and sealed it. Returning in front of Kuroko, he bent down and looked into Kuroko's eyes.

"You know, Kuroko, I've always admired you. You were the only Miracle who considered the feelings of his opponents. Kuroko, I've always loved you..."

Kuroko's pupils dilated when he felt Hanamiya's lips touch his. Surprisingly, his lips were warm and soft. Feeling Hanamiya slip his tongue into his mouth, Kuroko bit down hard and forced Hanamiya to stop passionately kissing him as if the were lovers.

"Why?! Why won't you accept me, Kuroko? You're friends can't even stand anymore! I'm the only one left! I'm sorry for almost hurting you in that basketball match! Please, just love me back!"

"Please don't say something like that. Why would I love someone who inflicts so much pain upon others?" _My first kiss was supposed to be with Akashi-kun..._

Tears fell down his face. His first kiss was supposed to belong to Akashi. _Akashi-kun is the only one who can touch me, and I am the only one who can touch Akashi-kun_.

Blue locks kept Kuroko's face obscured. Never before had he felt so much anger, so much hate...

"Would you love me if I killed them instead? I'll kill them until you love me, starting with Akashi!"

Hanamiya slowly approached Akashi with a butcher knife in his hand. Akashi kept his fear in check and snickered, "Do you really think you can get away with this?"

"Of course. Who do you think I am?"

He swung at Akashi's neck.

A loud clattering sound filled the room.

Kuroko, who was bound in chains just a moment ago, stood with his fringe covering his eyes.

Slowly, Kuroko looked up. Finally, his hair was no longer covering his face, and where there once were two blue, emotionless eyes...

...were two cold eyes of different color... a piercing green, and a murky blue.


	9. Chapter 8

*No One's POV*

The Kiseki no Sedai stared in shock. Kuroko's eyes... somehow, they knew that he was to be feared more than Akashi.

Hanamiya was oblivious to this new development. He was too immersed in the joy of finally killing the demonic captain that he did not notice Kuroko approaching him at an inhuman speed.

"Hanamiya-saaaaan~" Right before the knife met Akashi's neck, Kuroko grabbed Hanamiya's wrist with strength that no one- not even the GoM- knew he had. Made evident by the cracking sounds, Kuroko snapped Hanamiya's wrist in two. "A clean cut... according to the books I've read, you'll be fine once you recover... that isn't good enough...!"

*Akashi POV*

 _Even though we had Tetsuya here... I suppose we underestimated Makoto?_

He prepared himself for the sharp pain he would feel before his life was lost...

...but the pain never came.

 _Huh...?_ Opening his eye, he saw Kuroko holding onto Makoto's wrist with a deadly grip. _Ouch, that grip must hurt_.

Then he noticed his eyes, and heard what he was saying.

*Kuroko POV*

Hanamiya clutched his wrist. He had never felt such immense pain. The cracked bone was stabbing his flesh.

"Hanamiya-san, is that all? Your pain endurance is so low~" Laughing, Kuroko kicked him in the... sensitive parts. " _The others suffered far more than you did. You have no right to complain. Now sit there and pray for your life while I go tend to my friends._ "

*Hanamiya POV*

 _Kuroko... even when broken, you are so beautiful! What must I do to get you to love me! This injury will not stop me... I'm sure that killing_ them _will make you love me!_

Seeing the gardening shears on the floor near him, he reached his hand out to grab them. _Killing just one of them will be enough... so please, hit your mark_!

He threw the scissors, and...

*No One POV*

Kuroko went over to tend to their wounds. He found some first aid supplies near the various scattered tools(he deduced that they were there in case Hanamiya accidentally hurt himself while torturing others).

Wrapping an ace bandage around Kise's stomach, Kuroko whispered, "Gomenasai, minna-san. You all went through unbelievable amounts of pain because of me."

"T-Tetsu, don't worry about us. Are _you_ okay?"

Kuroko was trying to answer this question himself when a gardening shear flew from the direction of Hanamiya Makoto and grazed Aomine's neck. A shallow cut appeared on the side of the ganguro's neck; blood slowly dribbled out.

All hell broke loose.


	10. Chapter 9

_Warning: There will be extensive cursing in this chapter, so... prepare yourselves._

A teal blur was seen as Kuroko dashed across the room to where Hanamiya was on the floor, collapsed. Kicking him in the side, Kuroko yelled, "You fucking bastard! _Don't touch Aomine-kun!_ " Needless to say, that one kick broke a few of Hanamiya's ribs and sent him flying across the room.

"Tetsu/ Kurokocchi/ Kuro-chin/ Kuroko/ Tetsuya?" What monster had Hanamiya awakened? They knew that Kuroko was terrifying when angry, but he had never been this irate. They wanted to tend to their wounds, but they couldn't tear their eyes away from the sight of their precious Kuroko and the demon he currently was.

"I was going to spare you, ungrateful bitch! Who the fuck do you think you are, kidnapping and torturing us like that! If you hurt me, I wouldn't have been this mad, but you had to go hurt my teammates! Do you have a fucking _deathwish_?" Holding Hanamiya by the collar of his shirt, he glared at him with digust.

"Kuroko... why? I just wanted you to love me- HKKK?!"

Kuroko had run him through with a knife. "Oops, it seems I missed your heart. Shall I try again?" Raising his arm, he brought down the knife and continued to stab ( _AN: He's stabbing him like Eren stabbed grown men when he was a little kid_ ) Hanamiya's chest area repeatedly. Blood flew everywhere, and Kuroko was in his own little world. He wanted revenge. All the pain his friends went through... Hanamiya would experience it as well.

"Tetsuya... stop it..." The GoM couldn't watch anymore. They were happy that Kuroko cared for them this much, but there was no reason for him to kill the damn bastard. Akashi was the only one who could still respond.

Pausing his brutal stabbing for a moment, Kuroko turned and smiled that angelic grin of his. "What are you saying, Akashi-kun? Isn't it wonderful to see this little shit's body covered in red? Red is such a beautiful color, Akashi-kun..."

It was then that the MiraGen realized. Even if they managed to return Kuroko to his past self, he would be consumed by guilt. The current Kuroko didn't really care about taking Hanamiya's life, but the old one definitely did. Akashi understood that feeling; he himself had a dual personality after all.

Wheezing and speechless, Hanamiya managed to force out, "Kuroko... one... mo-more chance... please? I love you..."

Surprisingly, Kuroko smiled gently and whispered, "I'm sorry, Hanamiya-san. I've injured you greatly. I look forward to meeting you again."

Hanamiya sighed in relief. But his small moment of happiness was ruined when Kuroko yelled his next statement.

"I'll meet you again... IN HELL! See you later!"

His knife struck home. His heart had been impaled, and with no hesitation, Kuroko pulled the knife back out. If the wound didn't kill him, the blood loss would. But he didn't care whether or not he was dead. He had died far too quickly, and he wasn't satisfied.

"You idiot... some genius you were. You died before I could even satisfy my urge for revenge. I'll damage you in a way that will hurt you even in the afterlife."

Pressing his knife against Hanamiya's throat, he momentarily changed back to the original Kuroko. "Minna-san... please help me. The emotions I've kept shelled up have exploded at once, and this is the result... return me to normal, please, this hurts too much..." A lone tear slipped out of his cerulean eye before the knife cut through the flesh and bone that connected the head to the rest of the body.

At that exact moment, a squadron of police officers and the respective teams of each GoM member rushed in (including Seirin, of course).

Kuroko stood in a pile of blood, staring at Hanamiya's disembowled head. What a beautiful sight it was... but it seemed he had some visitors to greet.

Turning around, he smiled and deadpanned, "Domo, minna-san. Please don't mind my appearance; take the rest to the hospital instead."

"Oi, Kuroko! Don't tell me that you killed..." Kagami couldn't take his eyes off of the head that was rolling around on the floor. Seeing that Kuroko wasn't responding, he decided that he didn't want to find out the truth. Wondering what Kuroko had meant when he said to "take the rest to the hospital" his eyes swept the room. In an isolated corner, he saw the MiraGen shaking, bleeding, and mentally traumatized.

"Just what happened here?"


	11. Chapter 10

_Some parts might have incorrect information, since I have no idea how police interrogations work and stuff regarding crimes and the like work. Sorry about that. (this goes for the next chapter as well)_

 _Enjoy!_

"What happened, you ask?" Kuroko walked up to Kagami and grinned. "What does it look like, Kagami-kun? Use your head." Walking back to Hanamiya's disemboweled head, Kuroko picked it up and smiled. "I killed Hanamiya. Is something wrong with that?"

The basketball teams and the police looked at the scene in horror. Most of the basketball teams averted their gazes from the scene because it was just too gruesome for them. The police, on the other hand, were shocked at the sight in front of them. Kuroko Tetsuya had been a little angel when he was younger, and they remembered helping him find his parents when he got lost as a little kid. They heard good things about him from his parents and elderly people who he helped out. So why was that Kuroko Tetsuya holding the head of a person that he supposedly killed?

Kagami retched and his knees buckled. "Kuroko, why...? What happened to you?"

"Kagami-kun, nothing happened to me. It's more a matter of what happened to those precious to me. They were hurt, so I decided to help them and take revenge in their stead." His face becoming serious, Kuroko looked down at the many puddles of blood scattered across the room and sighed. "I suppose I did overdo it..."

"Tetsuya, please come with us, we'd like to interrogate you." Several policemen came up and lead Kuroko towards the outside of the building, where many police cars were waiting.

"Ja ne, minna-san! I'll be back after talking to the police!" Kuroko looked over his shoulder and flashed a bright smile, which no one but the GoM (who were already on their way to a hospital) had seen before. The basketball teams (Seirin especially) stood there not knowing how to react. They probably would have stood there forever if not for the police who prompted them to return home for now.

/TIME SKIP/

Seirin did not return home as they were advised to- instead, they went on a field trip to Maji Burger. They had no appetite to eat, but they forced themselves because they knew they would need the energy when they discussed the current situation with other schools later.

A heavy atmosphere surrounded Seirin as the team silently ate their hamburgers.

Unable to wait any longer, Riko slammed her hand down on the table and stood up. "So, what are we going to do? Kuroko-kun is now a murderer and probably has dissociative identity order. What do you guys want to do?"

Going into clutch mode, Hyuuga crossed his arms and muttered, "Underclassmen shouldn't cause trouble for their upperclassmen..."

Another awkward silence filled Maji Burger.

"Just because he's become a little- well, okay, not a little- different doesn't mean that we should abandon him, right? He's our precious shadow and teammate! We wouldn't have even gotten to the Winter Cup without him! He's our friend!" Kagami, ever the saint, shouted in defense.

"Wow Kagami, you didn't even have a _shadow_ of a doubt when you said that. Did a _light_ from heaven shine down on you and give you those cheesy lines?"

"Die, Izuki!"

 _SLAP!_ " **ITTAI!** " Riko slapped Izuki and Hyuuga on the head with a paper fan that she pulled out of nowhere.

"Be serious, you two!" Turning to Kagami, she sighed, "While I do agree with you, I'm not sure if he'll be expelled or jailed or whatnot. Murdering someone is a serious offense. It's not a matter of whether or not _we'll_ let him stay, it's more a matter of if the officials let him stay in our team and in our school."

"Coach, could you _coach_ us in ways to keep Kuroko in our team and school?"

"...seriously, Izuki?"

Another awkward silence ensued.

"A-anyways, let's just go home for today... "

 _Where am I? The last thing that I remember is... is...!_ Kuroko bent over and threw up. Panting, he wiped his mouth with his arm and looked around him. _I have to get out of here... I have to know if they're okay..._  
Looking around him, Kuroko noticed that he was in a white room with one door. There was a small corridor that lead to a bathroom and another that lead to a bedroom. He also noticed that he was not wearing any clothes.

Surprised and somewhat embarassed, Kuroko entered the bedroom and opened a closet door. Unexpectedly, there were clothes inside the closet, and they were all Kuroko's clothes. He quickly put some clothes on and returned to the room that he was first in.

He walked towards the door and tried to turn the doorknob. Just as he was opening the door, the door was opened from the other side and he was knocked down.

Looking up, Kuroko saw himself. He saw himself- but he had one green eye.

"Ara? That's no good, Kuroko-kun. You aren't allowed to escape from here."

"Where did you take me? Are my friends all right? What happened to Hanamiya?"

"Your friends are currently in the hospital and should we recovering well. As for you, you're being interrogated by police. And as for Hanamiya..."

Kuroko just stared at him, but some of the worry that was showing in his eyes before had disappeared.

"Maa, Kuroko-kun... can't you show some emotion for once?" Pushing Kuroko down onto the floor, the second Kuroko cupped the originial Kuroko's face with his hands. "You _are_ me, but I don't get any sense of satisfaction from seeing myself get emotional, you know?" Kuroko's face remained stoic.

"Please get off of me and answer the rest of my questions, Green Eye-san."

"Okay then, Kuroko-kun. Hanamiya is _dead_. _Beheaded._ He's completely mangled, and you're the one who did it."

Showing a look of fear on the usually expressionless face, Kuroko stammered, "N-no I didn't. That was you who killed him and mutilated him. You took over and then... I woke up here."

"Sore wa chigau yo. I wouldn't have damaged him to that extent, but you had murderous intent even when you were in control of our body. Even if I didn't take over, he would've been hurt like that. Kuroko-kun, even you don't know how you feel. That's the real reason why you're usually emotionless, did you know that?"

The real Kuroko shook. _No... that can't be..._

The heterochromatic Kuroko got up and walked to the door. "Ja ne, Kuroko-kun. I'm your alternate personality that appeared from your feelings of rage and your murderous intent. I'll be in control of your body from now on, so I hope you enjoy your stay in your mind. Indeed, this is not in real life- this is all in your mind. Bye, Kuroko-kun! See you some other time!"

"Wait... I still have a question for you..." The door was slammed shut.

"...could you please tell my friends... that I'm sorry?" Tears flowed down Kuroko's face as he imagined how much trouble his friends and family must be going though. It was all his fault... all his...

 **AN: So Kuroko is now** _ **very OOC**_ **! Hooray!**

 **Anyways, sorry for the Izuki puns that I put in, they were pretty bad...**

 **Also, I don't think a lot of people will get my reference, but I put a quote that the main character from** _ **Danganronpa**_ **uses: "Sore wa chigau yo." ((** In case I get copyrighted- (I do not own anything from Danganronpa.) **))**

 **Thanks for reading~ Gambatte, Kuroko-kun! \\(o)/**


	12. Chapter 11

Kuroko somberly got off the floor and went into the kitchen. It was times like these that vanilla milkshakes really saved him. Ahhh, that wonderful taste that would never change no matter what other events happened in his life... the familiarity comforted him. He was not used to showing emotion- ever since his Teiko days, he had been keeping his emotions bottled up so his misdirection would be more potent. And the fact that he had murdered a human being, had taken a precious life... was something he would probably never get over.

Entering the living room, Kuroko saw a light that he was not accustomed to. This room was the only lavishly decorated room, with elaborate drapings covering windows that didn't exist and a grand chandelier seemingly made of expensive crystal. Large framed photos of the Generation of Miracles created a colorful rainbow on the walls. A medium sized coffee table was placed in front of a large couch facing the wall, which had a 42 inch plasma TV attached to it. There were several potted plants in the room.

Wondering what the TV could be for (there aren't any TV channels in his own brain, right?), Kuroko picked up the remote controller that he found on the coffee table and pushed the "on" button.

He was surprised to see his friends being displayed on the screen. He saw that they had all been discharged from the hospital and smiled. But with them was his green eyed self.

Still sipping on his vanilla milkshake, he sat down on the couch and tuned into the show.  
~~~

Today was the day that the group of colorful idiots were discharged from the hospital, and Kagami knew that he should be happy for them- but he just couldn't. How could he, when the Kuroko he knew and had befriended and turned a complete 180?

"Kagami-kun, is something wrong? You seem awfully tense."  
"A-ah, no thing's wrong Kuroko. No need to worry."

 _Interesting... they don't seem to enjoy my company as much as Kuroko's._ "Kagami-kun, I may act a little differently, but I'm still Kuroko-kun, you know? I'm not really all that different..." Sighing and looking away, the green eyed Kuroko pouted his lips in an attempt to appear cute.

Akashi saw this and blushed. Quickly regaining his composure, he said, "Please don't do actions that Tetsuya wouldn't do, Nise-kun. It's quite unbecoming."

"Tch. Hai, Akashi- _dono_."

The atmosphere immediately worsened further. Akashi was just barely holding back his urge to chuck his scissors at "Nise-kun" (he didn't want to hurt his precious Tetsuya's body), Midorima was anxiously rubbing his lucky item for the day (which happened to be a glass marble, Murasakibara was chewing his maiubo more ferociously than he normally did, Aomine was (for once) not playing with a basketball, and Kise wasn't self-advertising about the magazine that he was in. Rather than a group of close friends, an outsider would see this group as a gathering of strangers.

Raising his glasses, Midorima asked, "Kuroko-san... could you get Kuroko to come out for a little bit? It's not like I want to talk him nanodayo..."

"Tsundere." This was the one thing everyone could agree on.

"I-I am not!"

And thus, the atmosphere around the Miragen returned to normal... temporarily. No one noticed that the other Kuroko never answered Midorima's question.  
~~~

Smiling wistfully, Kuroko turned off the TV screen. It seemed like his friends were doing okay. Putting down his now-empty cup of vanilla milkshake, he sank further down into the couch seat and recalled his other self's appearance in the TV screen. He wasn't certain, but he had a nagging feeling that if anyone in that group was extremely distressed, it would be his alternate. But why?

Wandering around the house for a while, he returned to the bedroom and took a look around. When he was rushing to put some clothes on, he failed to notice that this bedroom was identical to the one he had in real life (except for the closet). After changing into his pajamas and brushing his teeth, he lied down in bed and wondered what would happen if he fell asleep. He was currently just a mental projection; did he actually need rest? Deciding that he shouldn't break his daily routines, he closed his eyes and slowly drifted to sleep.  
~~~

*Nise means fake in Japanese, so Akashi is essentially calling Kuroko's alternate personality "Fake-kun" because he isn't the real Kuroko.

 _So, yeah, I guess the house in Kuroko's mind is sort of weird... one room is completely empty and white and another has a bunch of colorful furniture... haha_

 _I'm sorry if there are any grammatical errors._


	13. Chapter 12

In case there was any confusion, "Nise-kun" is Kuroko's alternate personality.  
~~~

 _Why did you kill me?_

 _Kuroko once again stood in a pool of blood, with Hanamiya's head in his hand. Yelping, he dropped the head and backed away, only to have his back bump into the wall._

 _'Why did you mangle me like this? '_

 _Kuroko cringed. It wasn't him, it wasn't him, it wasn't his fault, it wasn't his fault!_ _He didn't kill Hanamiya, there was no way- it must have been his other self._

 _The disembowled head, which was previously face-planted onto the ground, slowly turned towards Kuroko. Kuroko's eyes locked onto Hanamiya's._

 _Suddenly, Hanamiya's head was not his anymore. In place of it was Kuroko's head, except one eye was green._

 _With a tear slipping out of the green eye, Kuroko's other self whispered, 'All I ever wanted was to be loved._ '

 _Kuroko covered his ears, shut his eyes as tightly as he could, and dropped to the floor. 'I didn't do anything... it wasn't me... IT WASN'T ME... I SWEAR, IT WASN'T ME!'_

 _Kuroko could feel a sharp blade on his neck; it was being held by an unknown entity. 'Kuroko Tetsuya. For taking a precious human life, you must be punished...'_

 _'No... no... it wasn't me! There's no way... THERE'S NO WAY-'_

Kuroko woke up from his dream in a cold sweat. The sound of his heavy breathing filled the silence of the empty mindscape. "It wasn't me..."


	14. Chapter 13

Kuroko went to the kitchen and sipped on a vanilla milkshake. Ahh, at least this taste would always be there to comfort him, if nothing else. He was feeling unsettled and decided to lay down on the couch for a while before retiring to the bedroom once more.

His relaxation was interrupted when a door was opened.

On instinct, Kuroko called out, "Who's there?" Then he realized that no one else could be here other than his other self.

"Kuuuroookooo-kuuun~" A green eye peeked from behind the door. "Long time no see!"

Kuroko sat up and turned around to look at him. He seemed so different in person than how he looked on the TV screen. If, by chance, the loneliness he had sensed in him was real, was there a reason that he had appeared at this particular time? If the reason he appeared was because Kuroko, who was so used to hiding his emotions, suddenly felt strong feelings of hatred, why did he appear now? Why didn't he appear before, when his friends had abandoned him? Why didn't he appear when Hanamiya-

He froze. Hanamiya is dead because of him. Hanamiya is... Hanamiya is...!

"Kuroko-kun? Ne, Kuroko-kuuun? Anybody home? Oi! Oi?!" Nise-kun poked Kuroko in a (failed) attempt to get Kuroko's attention. Kuroko's figure was trembling and sweat was rolling down his face. His pupils were dilated and his breathing was increasing in speed.

"Kuroko-kun. You don't look so well. Are you okay?" Kuroko's attention remained elsewhere.

Sighing, Nise-kun decided it was time to use his trump card. "Kuroko, the GOM invited me to go play some basketball with them. Can I go? Is that okay? Is it?"

Kuroko's head jerked towards Nise-kun's and his pupils returned to their normal size. Almost immediately, he replied in a shaky voice, "No. Don't you dare go play with them in _my body_."

"But we're sharing we're this body, aren't we?"

"Yes, we are are. But leave them alone. I don't want you to go near them. They're my friends, not yours."

"Let's see if they're still _your_ friends after I'm done dealing with them," he giggles.

"They wouldn't abandon me like that! They wouldn't do that again!"

"What makes you think that history wouldn't repeat? You just sit here and watch as I take them from you, one by one. I'll make sure to gain Akashi's affection last. You can look forward to it. This is what you wanted, right?"

"No... this isn't what I wanted. Don't take them from me. Please... they're my only friends..." Kuroko begs.

"So why don't you make more friends?"

Kuroko mutters something inaudible. A long silence ensues. "What was that? I didn't catch that?" Nise-kun inquires.

"IT'S BECAUSE I'M TOO INVISIBLE FOR ANYONE TO NOTICE ME!" Kuroko shoots upwards, tears flying out from the corners of his eyes. "Even if they do notice me... They'll forget about me in due time..." He sits back down with a sigh.

"I'll never forget you..." He walks to where Kuroko is sitting and bends down in front of him. He brushes Kuroko's bangs to the side. Lifting his fingers to Kuroko's chin, he tilts it downwards towards him. He looks straight into Kuroko's eyes. "I'll always be here for you..."

"Everybody says that... But in the end, they always leave me behind. The only ones who have stayed with me are the GoM."

"I'm not like those people. Even if you try, you won't be able to get rid of me... After all, I am you."

"I don't care if you're part of me... Just leave me alone!"

Nise-kun looked genuinely upset. "You'll learn to like me; after all, I'm the only one who's here for you..." He walks to the door and excuses himself. "I've got a basketball game to get to. I'll be back later. Ja ne~"

Kuroko was once again alone. He slowly brings his hands together on his lap and then lowers his head onto his hands. He sobs quietly. "Maybe I should trust him..."

-Meanwhile in the real world-

Nise-kun walks up to the empty basketball court. _Looks like I'm 5 minutes early, I guess I'll start warming up._ He sweeps the area once more for any of the GoM and breaks into a jog.

By the time the GoM arrived, he had already finished warming up. "Done already?" Akashi queries. "You better have run at least 10 laps."

"10 laps?" Nise-kun scoffs. "I ran 40 laps at the very least. I lost track somewhere in the middle." Noticing that Akashi was gaping at him, he smirks, "What, are you that shocked? Kuroko never reached his full potential because YOU held him back. The others too."

Akashi frowns slightly. "What makes you say that?" He fiddles with his eyepatch.

In an attempt to hide his smile, he looks away and giggles, "At any rate, you should go warm up. I'll be waiting A-ka-shi-kuuuuun~"

"Tch!" Akashi starts to run his laps and quickly catches up to the other Miracles.

Once Akashi was out of ear-shot, Nise-kun let out a roaring laugh. They didn't have _any_ idea just how amazing his Kuroko would be at this moment if they weren't near him. Kuroko himself hadn't even realized his own potential, which was surprising considering that his observing skills were of top class.

Akashi and the rest of the Miracles run towards where Nise-kun stands, leaning against the fence. "Okay, let's decide the tea-"

"There's no need. One on five. I'll show you what I meant when I said that you're holding him back. No need to go easy on me; if you do, you'll regret it."

"Very well." With a cross look on his face, Akashi steps onto the court with the reverence of an emperor. His eyepatch made him seem more intimidating than before. "You may start with the ball."

Akashi gently passes the ball to Nise-kun. The moment the ball hits the palm of Nise-kun's hand, there was a flash of teal and green right in front of him. Then, all he could hear was the sound of the basketball net swishing behind him. "You guys are too slow~"

The ball bounces near Midorima's feet. "It's our turn now. I don't care whether we win or not, but I'll be taking those two points back." Midorima raises his arms and gets into shooting position.

Then, he realizes- the ball isn't in his possession.

Looking around wildly, he spots a blur of teal and green heading towards the 3 point line at a near impossible speed. Before anyone could react, another swish was heard.

"Midorima-kun? What happened to those points you were taking back? Looks like they went to me instead~" He cackled.

Raising his glasses, Midorima looks away and scoffs, "You're better than I thought you'd be."

"Of course, I did tell you not to underestimate me. Also, my first shot was a three pointer as well."

 _How is it possible for two different personalities of Tetsu to have such a difference in skill?_ Aomine was dumbfounded.

Turning to Kise, his eyes twinkle mischievously, "Were you watching carefully? A basketball player of your caliber should be able to copy something at this level easily, right?"

Kise is speechless. _How am I supposed to copy_ this _?!_

 **The game continued on. By the third quarter, Nise-kun was winning with a score of 36-0.**

Akashi had never seen anything like this. His precious Kuroko had turned into a monster before his very eyes. How was he able to play like this? Kuroko never trained his shooting skills; he never trained anything other than his passing in the first place. So, how? How was this possible?

How was it possible for the entire Generation of Miracles to be laying down on the floor from exhaustion? In contrast, Nise-kun had just started panting.

"You know what? I'm quite exhausted. Kuroko is a basketball genius, but his body doesn't have enough stamina... I'll have to increase his stamina for him."

"Tetsu... no, other-Tetsu... how are you so strong when Tetsu could barely keep up with us?"

The entire group turns to glare at him, as if sending the message, "He isn't useless!"

"D-don't get me wrong, his misdirection is amazing in itself, but... he was never able to keep up with us physically. So, how?"

"I told you, didn't I? All of you are holding him back. He's a basketball prodigy, you know? No- the word prodigy is an understatement. He never wanted to score, so he was never able to score by himself. If he never met you utter _fools_ , he would probably be in the Japanese national team by now."

"Then how come he was in Teiko's third string?" Akashi responds.

"He hadn't realized his potential at that point. He realized his true strength after _you_ abandoned him, after _you_ left him alone because he was 'useless'. It was at this point that he tried an offensive playstyle. And it suited him perfectly. But you know what? He wanted to bring you guys back to your senses. Instead of becoming the god of basketball players, he decided to bring you back onto the right path without destroying your spirits."

His eyes narrow and his smile widens to the point of creepiness. "If it wasn't for _you_ ," he whispers, "he would be a light, not a shadow."

He walks away from the astonished group. "Let's play again sometime!"

-Back in the mindscape-

Kuroko sprints to the door the moment he hears it open. "WHY DID YOU TELL THEM?" He screamed.

"Why not? Now you can play however you like! They'll think you're looking down on them if you play like a shadow."

"No, you don't understand. I enjoy playing like this. I _enjoy_ being a shadow. I'm... not a monster like _you_."

"Are you now? Remember who killed Hanamiya?"

Nise-kun smirks and whispers into Kuroko's ear, " _It was YOU."_


	15. Chapter 14

Kuroko paled even further. Sweat rolled down his face. He had, in fact, finally come to terms that it was ultimately him who had brutally murdered Hanamiya. That didn't mean that it didn't weigh him down with guilt to his very core. But one thing still puzzled him- was it really just him who snapped and became momentarily insane, or did Nise-kun play a part in it too? In any case, he didn't want to deal with Nise-kun. He turned away and headed towards the kitchen to grab a vanilla milkshake.

"O-Oi... Kuroko? Matte... CHOTTO MATTE KUDASAI!"

The use of slightly polite words captured Kuroko's attention. Still shaken, he turned around and his eyes seemed more tender now. "What is it?"

"E-etou... gomen. I didn't think you'd dislike it this much..." He laughed sheepishly and scratched his cheek. "I... thought that you wanted to play offensively, you know? Your phantom shot sorta made it seem like you wanted to stand out more and be more of a carry.. Also, I am basically your bottled in thoughts and emotions materialized, you know? Ahahaha... haha... ha... sorry. I'll leave now."

Kuroko could've swore that he heard him sniffling as he walked out of the mindscape. With even more weighing on his mind, he returned to his walk towards the kitchen. He was suddenly painfully aware of how cold his feet felt; how was it possible for him to _feel_ in a mindscape, anyways? A little bit of the curious shine returned to his eyes.

A blast of frigid air hit him as he opened the fridge door. His hands seemed illogically cold when he wrapped his fingers around the plastic cup. He lifted the straw to his lips and took a sip.

 _He couldn't taste a thing._

The plastic cup slipped through his fingers and fell with a deafening thud on the floor, splattering the milkshake everywhere. To Kuroko, instead of pure white, the now tasteless drink appeared to be a crimson shade of red.

Yelping, he looked into the fridge once more to see if all of the milkshakes had no taste.

 _All of them were red._

-real world-

Akashi was snuggled in his blankets when he received a sudden phone call. Annoyed that he had to get out of bed, he grumbled and walked across his large room to see who had called him in the middle of the night. He picked up immediately when he saw that Midorima called him- he wouldn't call at midnight unless it was something important.

"Midorima, what is it?"

"A-Akashi, Kuroko is in the hospital right now. I'm headed over to the hospital myself, so I'm going to hang up now nanodayo. I'll text you the hospital he's staying at."

Akashi stared at his phone. _Why is he in the hospital? He's not even the one in control of his body..._

Or so he thought.

-in the hospital-

Everyone except for Akashi, who had been informed late, were anxiously sitting in the waiting room. Other than Momoi and Kise who were sobbing loudly, the room was filled a suspenseful quiet.

Akashi burst through the waiting room doors. "Te-Kuroko. How's Kuroko?"

"Akashi-kun!" Momoi ran to Akashi and tackled him. "Akashi-kun, is Tetsu-kun okay?"

Akashi struggled for air. "M-Momoi... can't... breathe..."

"Ah! Gomen!" Momoi quickly got off of Akashi and kneeled on the ground beside him.

Akashi sat up and sighed. He had come here as fast as he possibly could, but he had forgotten to change out of his pajamas. Aomine was the first one to look at the printed patterns on his clothes and laugh.

"P-pft, I can't hold it in any longer! A-Akashi... y-your pajamas!"

A pair of scissors flew past Aomine. Slightly blushing, Akashi threatened, "Shut it."

Nobody mentioned his pajamas after that.

The tension between the rainbow teenagers was broken when a doctor walked out of Kuroko's room. "Is anyone here a guest for Kuroko Tetsuya?"

The entire group stood up and shouted. "Is he okay?"

The doctor seemed surprised that Kuroko had this many friends. "Yes, he's fine, but... just a little bit different. You'll see what I mean. And please don't make too much noise, he just woke up."

Akashi sprinted to the door and opened it silently but quickly. Kuroko was staring out the window, his head facing away from the door. At the sound of footsteps entering, he turned around to see who came.

Kuroko suppressed a laugh. "Nice pajamas, Akashi-kun."

Akashi flushed a bright red and pretended that he did not hear Kuroko blatantly make fun of him. Coughing, he asked, "Kuroko, I'm glad to see that you're awake and well. What happened for you to end up in the hospital?"

Kuroko opened his mouth to answer when the rest of the GoM filed in. Kise and Momoi immediately ran to Kuroko and glomped him, shouting, "Kurokocchi/ Tetsu-kun!"

Kuroko leaned to the side and dodged both of them. "As you can see, I'm alive and physically well. There's no need to worry about me."

Remembering that the doctor told them to stay quiet and not bother Kuroko, Momoi hushed herself and backed off. Kise, on the other hand... "Hidoi, Kurokocchi! You're so mean!"

Midorima shushed him. "Kuroko, here, this is your lucky item for today. Not like I care or anything nanoydayo."

Aomine stared at the scene in front of him. Kuroko seemed perfectly fine, if not happy, but something seemed off. What was it? He couldn't quite place his finger on it.

Akashi, on the other hand, noticed what was wrong. Kuroko's eyes seemed awfully lifeless. The usual shine of curiosity was replaced by a dull blue. No one else seemed to have noticed.

The doctor walked in. "I'm sorry, but could you all return home? I don't want to keep you up at this time. Not to mention that the patient needs sleep. You could always come back tomorrow."

Giving their farewells, they worriedly left the room. Akashi stayed behind to talk to the doctor.

"I have something to ask you, Doctor... uh..."

"Doctor Stein."

"I have something to ask you, Doctor Stein. Would you mind if I payed the bills for Kuroko?"

"Of course not, but do you have permission from your parents? I mean, you _are_ the Akashi heir, but..."

Akashi smirked. "Permission from my parents? Oh _please_. I'm Akashi Seijuro, I can do as I please with my money."

"In that case, yes, it is fine. Please sit in the waiting room while I go get the paperwork."

Sighing, Akashi returned to the waiting room and sat down. He couldn't help but recall how Kuroko seemed to have changed. He also realized that the doctor still hadn't told him why Kuroko had been hospitalized.

Suddenly, Akashi heard screaming coming from Kuroko's room. Jumping from his seat, he rushed to the room and peered through the window.

Kuroko was sitting upright with his head up against his knees. He was desperately clutching onto the blankets and tears streamed out of his wide open eyes. Unlike before, his eyes were sparkling with sadness and remorse. He clutched his head and attempted to calm himself down. He took deep breaths. He blinked.

Suddenly, his eyes were once again dull and lifeless.

Akashi could just barely hear Kuroko mutter, "Meh, who cares." He chuckled. "Killing Hanamiya is no big deal. He deserved it."

Akashi was about to enter Kuroko's room when the doctor appeared behind him. "Akashi, I'm afraid I'll have to give you the paperwork some other time. Could you please come at another date?"

"Wait, Doctor Stein. Please tell me why Kuroko was hospitalized first."

"For now, the only reason is a panic attack. But it's likely that it will only get worse from here on out." Doctor Stein burst through the door and promptly closed it.

Akashi was left hanging in the dust. He decided to call it a day and return home. He would have to use a lot of his connections to help Kuroko recover.

As Akashi waited for his chauffeur to come pick him up, he couldn't help but recall Kuroko's actions. He seemed really remorseful and traumatized at first, but then... _"Meh, who cares."_ He couldn't get it out of his head.

As his chaffeur drove up beside him, Akashi got in and decided to ask Kuroko about this the next time he visited.

/

 _While the name of the doctor is indeed a reference to Stein from Soul Eater, this Doctor Stein isn't an insane dude, so no need to worry about him dissecting Kuroko. ... or do you? (i do not own soul eater or its characters)_

 _And as for Akashi's pajamas, I'm leaving that up to you to imagine. In my mind, I saw a fuzzy pajama top with tofu soup bowls printed on it and fuzzy drawstring pants with basketballs with sunglasses... so uh, let your imagination take you wherever you want._

 _Also, if you're having trouble imagining Kuroko crying, he's basically doing what he did in the episode where Ogiwara's team gets beat by Teiko in a really rude way (111-11) and he goes like "What is winning?" and he starts to cry (except he's sitting in a bed and has his head touching his knees)._

 _For those who don't get why Kuroko had a panic attack and why he's suddenly in control of his body, here's why:_

 _In the beginning of the chapter, Kuroko was drinking his milkshake and, to his surprise, it didn't taste like anything. So, in shock, he dropped it and it splattered everywhere. This splattering reminded him of Hanamiya's blood splattering so he freaked out at first but decided to avert his eyes and see if the other milkshakes didn't taste like anything too, but all the milkshakes inside the fridge were red, in other words. the milkshakes looked like cups of blood. So Kuroko flipped out to the point where he regained control of his body and his panicking continued in real life, except in the form of a panick attack. So his breathing became really messed up and he started screaming, so his family called the hospital and he was hospitalized._

 _Tl;dr, the milkshakes reminded him of blood and he freaked out, causing his to have a panic attack and being sent to the hospital._

 _So, uh, yeah._

 _Anyway, hope you enjoyed! ^^_


	16. Chapter 15

Kuroko gasped and shot up from the bed. With one glance outside, he could tell that it was morning.

 _What happened... where am I?_ Kuroko could tell that he was in a hospital by looking at his surroundings, but _why_ was he here? He wasn't ill, he knew that. The other reason would be Nise-kun doing something stupid with his body, but he doubted that. He was very close to confirming that Nise-kun was just lonely; he was his bottled up feelings, after all.

He closed his eyes and wondered if he could call up Nise-kun like Akashi could call up his other half; Akashi had told him that he just spoke his name and he would appear. He took a deep breath and thought, _Nise... kun?_

He was transported into his mindscape. Instead of the usual white room, he saw a door. This time, he would be the one opening it.

"Nise-kun..." He opened the door and tentatively stepped inside the mindscape. "Nise-kun, there's something I would like to ask you."

Nise-kun was nowhere in sight. Confused, Kuroko searched around. Something about his mindscape seemed odd. Even the living room, which had so much color in it before, had turned white. The only thing with color was the TV screen.

After making two more rounds, Kuroko decided to try something. If this was his mindscape, he should be able to control it, right? He willed Nise-kun to appear, and he did. But something was different.

The moment Nise-kun appeared, a chill went down Kuroko's spine. The last time they had seen each other, Kuroko had sensed loneliness inside Nise-kun- and heck, he even suspected that Nise-kun was kind at heart. But this time... something was...

"Ne, Kuroko-kun. Do you mind if I take a milkshake from the fridge?"

An image of red drinks filled his head. Kuroko immediately okay'ed his request.

The teal haired boy decided it was about time to leave. He wasn't able to concentrate on his mindscape and real life at the same time, so he was probably sleeping. He was about to open the door and leave when Nise-kun called out,

"Kuroko-kun. Where are the knives?"

He froze. "The knives? Well, there's no need for any. Why do you ask, Nise-kun?"

Dark chuckling could be heard coming from the kitchen. " _Ahaha, it's nothing. I just wanted to practice a little something... Uhuhuhu..._ "

"Well, Nise-kun, there are no knives in here. But, here; I'll get one for you."

After conjuring up a knife, Kuroko walked over to Nise-kun. "Here, Nise-kun."

Nise kun grabbed the knife by the handle. "What the- how am I supposed to cut with this?"

Smirking, Kuroko walked out of the kitchen and walked out the door to his mindscape.

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CUT WITH A PLASTIC KNIFE?"

...

When Kuroko opened his eyes again, he was staring at fluorescent lights and a white ceiling. He couldn't help but be dumbfounded as to why someone would want a knife in a mindscape instead of in real life. He sighed and got out of his bed. There were all sorts of machines attached to him; he was pretty sure he didn't need them. He unattached them and stepped out of his room.

He didn't take any more than two steps when the doctor caught him outside of his room. "Kuroko-kun! What are you doing? You haven't been released yet!"

Kuroko deadpanned, "As you can see, I'm fine." He tripped on his own feet. "See?"

"Kuroko-kun, you'll be sent home within this week. So please be patient and stay until we let you go."

He clucked his tongue and headed back into the room. He stopped to ask, "Doctor Stein, how are my hospital bills being payed?"

Doctor Stein averted his eyes. "The... the Akashi Company."

Kuroko was surprised. He'd have to thank Akashi later. He obediently went back into his room and lowered his body back onto the bed. Nurses swarmed into the room to reattach machines and whatnot. Kuroko sighed. _Is any of this needed? I just want to sleep..._ He closed his eyes and slowly drifted to sleep.

Just as he was on the verge of falling asleep, Kise burst in, shouting, "KUROKOCCHI!"

Out of anger, Kuroko threw the first thing he grabbed at Kise. It was a plastic knife.

Kise easily dodged it. "Hidoi! Gomen Kurokocchi! I didn't mean to disturb your sleep... hey, I know! I'll leave some of my magazines here! I'm sure that'll help you recover, right? Righ-"

"Pft. Kise, no one cares," Aomine grunted.

Kagami, who came in afterwards, nodded in affirmation.

"S-so mean!" Crocodile tears flowed from his eyes.

Turning away from the model, Kagami ran to Kuroko's bedside and rapid-fire shot questions. "Oi, Kuroko, are you okay? What'd you do? What happened? Are you going to quit basketball? No? When are you coming back? Are you still going to be my shadow? Oi, Kuroko. Oi?"

Kuroko shifted his body so he wouldn't have to see their faces. "Sumimasen, Kagami-kun, Aomine-kun, Kise-kun. I would appreciate some peace and quiet right now.

They all sweatdropped. "Is that so... we'll be leaving then. Take it easy, Tetsu!"

Kuroko bit his bottom lip. He wanted them to stay, but... what were these destructive urges that he was feeling? Like he wanted to sock someone in the face... it wasn't towards his friends, of course not. He would never point his weapons at a friend.

Suddenly, Kuroko had an idea. _If I were to fight someone... would they be able to see me? Wouldn't this help me make my invisibility more potent?_ He pondered these questions and finally fell asleep.

...

Akashi, on the other hand, tossed about in his bed. He stared at the ceiling. He couldn't concentrate on his work, so there was no point in trying. He couldn't fall asleep, either. Sighing, he decided to do something productive. He grabbed his black glasses and quickly put them off. He put on his slippers and walked to the library.

"Akashi-sama! Weren't you going to bed?" A maid ran up to Akashi and worriedly asked.

Akashi smiled. "I was, but I remembered something that was more important. Besides, this is much earlier than my usual bedtime so I don't feel tired."

"Is that so? Please don't push yourself..." She scurried away.

...

Akashi searched through his extensive collection of books with a fine toothed comb. He already had a pile of books held securely in his hands; _Traumatic Experiences_ , _Dealing with Stress_ , and _How to Calm Your Other Half_ were among some of the books.

Akashi settled down at a library desk and looked at the large pile of books strewn around him. Sighing, he picked up the book that was closest to him. _A Beginner's Guide to PTSD_.

PTSD... A mental health condition triggered by experiencing or seeing a terrifying event. Akashi knew this. He set the book aside. Kuroko had already shown signs of PTSD, but what he showed after his panic attack was currently unidentified.

After reading a multitude of books, Akashi stood up and headed towards the door. He had concluded that at the time when Kuroko stopped caring, Kuroko either fused with Nise-kun or gave him full control. This, he had experience with. He had to deal with his other half for quite some time. He could give Kuroko some advice.

As he walked back to his room, he heard rambunctious laughter coming from another hallway. Wondering what was going on, he headed over to the source of the sound and found a small group of maids and butlers. They seemed to be having fun. He couldn't help but find the scene heartwarming. Just months before, his home was a silent place due to his other self's personality. It was amazing how drastic the change was when he returned.

He was about to turn around and stat his walk back to his room when he heard a crash. Whirling around the corner of the hallway, he demanded, "What's going on here?"

The maids and butlers bowed. "We're sorry! We'll clean it up right away!"

"No need to be so tense." Akashi glanced at the mess on the floor.

Apparently, the small group had been drinking fruit punch in glass cups together. The floor was riddled with glass and covered with a red, sticky liquid that smelled sweet.

Something clicked in Akashi's head. At the same time, the red head felt a tremor going down his spine. Kuroko's was probably traumatized by the sight of blood that he himself had made someone shed. But why did he explode like that? It was more likely for him to slip out quietly and help his friends in some roundabout way, or to get helplessly beat up.

So why did he snap at that exact moment?

 _Kuroko stood there sobbing. The final score had been 111-11._

 _Kuroko stood there alone. His teammates had just abandoned him._

 _Kuroko stood there with broken eyes. With a small rekindled flame of determination, he vowed to bring them back to how they used to me._

 _Kuroko tried to play offensively. He was successful._

 _Kuroko watched his friends drift further away from him. He felt his heart twist in anguish._

 _He just wanted them to come back to him. Was it that hard?_

Akashi realized. It wasn't Hanamiya's death that made him snap, nor was it what made him stop caring. It was his fear of being abandoned again; his fear of being hurt again. He had been the one to tell him to create an emotional barrier to make his misdirection and invisibility stronger. Did he use this to keep his negative emotions bottled in, as well? Did the barrier break like that glass of fruit punch, which was most likely Kool Aid Fruit Punch? Man, that really took him back... he loved Kool Aid when he was younger. But that was besides the point.

Was his request for him to shut off his emotions what ultimately caused this breakdown? That made it his responsibility to fix this huge mess. He pulled at his hair and let out a groan.

"A-ano... bocchan?" A young maid broke him out of his train of thought. "Bocchan, are you okay? You look worried..."

He pet her head. "It's nothing." He walked back to his room.

He quickly shut the door behind him and ran to his phone. He sent individual text messages to everyone who needed to know.

He hoped Kuroko would be back to normal by the time they completed his plan.

/

The GoM woke up from the sound of their phones ringing.

/

From: Akashicchi

To: Kise

Topic: Kuroko

Be by the basketball court near Teiko by 11:30 AM tomorrow. If you're late... *snip snip*

Kise stared at his phone screen. "Hidoi... so mean, Akashicchi..."

/

From: Satan

To: Aomine

Topic: Kuroko

Aomine, be by the basketball court near Teiko by 11:30 AM tomorrow. Kagami will be coming.

Oh, by the way, _don't think that I don't know what my name is in your contacts._

Aomine rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. 11:30 AM? That was too early...

but more importantly, how did he know what he was named in his contacts?

/

From: Aka-chin

To: Murasakibara

Topic: Kuroko

Come to the basketball court near Teiko by 11:30 AM tomorrow. Don't be late or else I will find a way to ban your snacks.

Murasakibara managed to sleep through the message. Luckily, he had an alarm set for 10 AM anyway so he could go eat at a restaurant without having to wait long lines.

/

From: Scissors

To: Kagami

Topic: Kuroko

Hello, it is "Scissors" here. Be at the basketball court near Teiko by 11:30 AM tomorrow. Daiki is coming tomorrow as well. Let's see who can get here faster.

Kagami growled as he read the message. "Like hell I'd lose to that guy!"

/

From: Akashi-kun

To: Momoi-san

Topic: Kuroko

Momoi-san, be at the basketball court near Teiko by 11:30 AM. Please bring Daiki with you. I have something important to tell everyone.

Momoi's eyes shone in the dark. "Tetsu-kun...? What about him...?"

/

From: Akashi

To: Midorima

Topic: Kuroko

Hello, Shintarou. Come to the basketball court near Teiko by 11:30 AM tomorrow. I have something important to discuss about Kuroko; a conclusion which you might have already come to as well.

I would appreciate it if you bought some data tables of medical patients suffering from PTSD and other trauma related mental health conditions. Thank you.

Midorima sighed. Was it even legal to take medical files from a hospital? He set his pen down and stood up from his desk. With the magical words "the Akashi Company", all should be well.

/

Akashi was once again staring at the ceiling of his room. This plan had to work. If it didn't Kuroko's condition would only worsen. And he didn't know any other way to fix it...


	17. Chapter 16

**(A/N: I've tried a couple of times and formatting isn't working so everything is just kind of... mushed together, I'm really sorry for the inconvenience... ;;)**  
His plan was simple, really. All they were going to do is get a bunch of presents for Tets-Kuroko, and settle down in his hospital room and have a sudden gift-giving ceremony for all that Kuroko had done for them. He wanted him to know that they all cared for him, that they were thankful for what he had done. Besides that he hid his crazy skills just to bring them back to their senses, he really went through a lot on his own. Akashi smiled. _And if all goes well, maybe I'll..._

A slight blush crept over his face. Shaking his head, Akashi's face reset and he had a poker face on once again. He leaned against the pole of the basketball hoop and checked the time. He had actually come _early_ for once, and the others had the audacity to be late? It was 11:42. Where were they?

At around 11:50, he heard the sound of feet pounding concrete. "Akashi-kun! I'm sorry we're late!" Momoi gasped.

"Oi, he came before us for once!"

"...shush, Aomine. Let's get to the point."

The red head quickly explained the plan.

"Aka-chin... is that really enough? Your plan sounds reaaaaally simple..."

"Got any better ideas?"

"...no..."

Akashi sighed. "Well, let's get going, shall we?" They all headed off to the mall together.

Kuroko stared out the window of his hospital room. None of them had come to visit today. He sighed and got up from his bed. He didn't have any annoying machines attached to him anymore and was allowed to move around the hospital as he pleased. Walking around the hospital hallways, he could hear cries of happiness and sadness alike coming from different rooms. _I understand that they're full of emotion and all, but... don't they know that it's rude to the other patients to be that loud?_ Kuroko shook himself. _No... I shouldn't be thinking like this!_ He ruffled his hair in frustration and headed towards the cafeteria. He didn't have money to buy any food, but the drinks were free for patients.

"Hey, you, kid with the blue hair."

Startled, Kuroko turned around. "Me?"

"Yes, you. Come with me."

Although he was confused as to how the men noticed him, he decided to follow him for now. He was not, however, expecting for things to turn out in this way.

The group of colorful teenagers were once again at the basketball court. They held heaps of shopping bags and boxes in their arms. Some of their gifts made perfect sense, but others were questionable.

"Oi, Kagami! What'd you buy?"

"A cookbook. He's gotta learn how to cook something other than boiled eggs."

" _Pfft!_ A cookbook? Why don't you just cook something for him? It's obvious that he'll like my present better."

"Oh yeah? What'd you get?"

"A basketba- wOAAh!" He narrowly dodged a pair of scissors. "Why only me?"

Akashi thumbed his eyepatch. "Sorry, Aomine, let him out for a second. Also, you're the one who picked a fight." Hearing Kagami laugh, he added, "As a side note, maybe I should throw another scissor, just for equality's sake." Kagami shut his mouth.

"Akashi-kun, what did you get for Tetsu-kun? I bought him some vanilla cupcakes~"

"Me? I got him new basketball shoes."

"Akashicchi, how do you know Kurokocchi's shoe size?"

"That... isn't important. Midorima, you got him his lucky item, right?"

"I didn't get it because I wanted to thank him nanodayo. I just don't want to be indebted to him."

They all sweatdropped. Murasakibara whispered, "Tsuuundeeeere..."

Midorima clucked his tongue and rose his glasses. "You're empty handed."

"I'm going to buy him a vanilla milkshake~"

"You sure that's allowed for a hospital patient?"

They started to head towards the train station.

"I'm sure it'll be fine~"

"Hey... may I ask where you're taking me?" Kuroko walked surrounded by a group of men, who he realized too late seemed quite suspicious.

"Nowhere special. Just keep following us."

"I just remembered that I have to be back in my room for checkups. Could you excuse m-" A man clapped his hand over Kuroko's mouth from behind. The teal head struggled to break out of the man's grasp.

"Sorry, kid. You're coming with us."

As the air in Kuroko's lungs became less and less, and the black spots in his vision increased, Kuroko only longed for his friends to come and help him.

As they were nearing the hospital, Akashi's phone rang. He picked up immediately. "Hello, Doctor Stein. We're right outside the hospital right now. May I ask why you called me?"

"Kuroko... Kuroko, he... he was kidnapped. I'm ashamed that our security was so weak that someone was kidnapped from our very own hallways..."

Akashi gripped the phone tightly. "Do you know where they took him?"

"N-no, I don't..."

" _YOU MUST KNOW, YOU HAVE VIDEO CAMERAS, DON'T YOU?_ "

He could hear a sigh coming from the other line. "Very well... please come inside the hospital first. Let's view the tapes together."

It was sight to behold; a group of teenagers, all with a mix of fury and worry on their, stormed into the hospital. Their colorful hair made them stand out even more, as if the ghastly auras emanating from them wasn't enough. Akashi walked up to the reception desk and slammed his hands on the table. "We would like to speak to Doctor Stein."

"D-Doctor Stein? I'm afraid you can't see him at the moment, sir. He's busy dealing with some patients at the moment."

Akashi rubbed his temples. _I have to calm down... this isn't like me. Smooth talking is always better than violence, isn't it? That's what I've been taught..._ He looked the receptionist straight in the face and smiled. "As much as I'd like to stay and chat with a lady as beautiful as you are, we'd really like to talk to Doctor Stein."

The lady blushed and toyed with her brown hair. "A-ano... do you have to talk to him?"

"Yes, it's urgent."

"In that case... I guess it wouldn't hurt." She picked up the phone and dialed Doctor Stein.

 _Ring... ring... ring..._

"H- *gasp* hello?"

"Yes, Doctor Stein? There's a group of teenagers at the front desk who would like to speak with you."

"Could you... *wheeze* hand the phone to those kids, preferably the short one with red hair? And don't tell him that I called him short, please."

Puzzled, she handed the phone over to "the short one with red hair". Akashi grabbed the phone and shoved it beside his face. "Doctor Stein, where are you? You said you'd show us the tapes, did you not?"

"I.. the security room was taken over. I'm hiding in a room right now, could you please not yell?" The voice came from the other end in a whisper.

Akashi stared at the phone is disbelief. "If you say so... would you like me to call on the Akashi Corps? Our security and fighting skills are top notch. Or... I could go there myself."

"D-don't come here yourself, you could get hurt! Call your company."

Akashi chuckled. "Me? I'll be fine. Pardon the lack of modesty, but I can fight pretty well. It might be better if the GoM just go. Plus, it'll be faster and more efficient with less people, right?"

"No. Call your company."

Aomine was the first one to notice that the area suddenly seemed very stuffy. Sweat rolled off of his forehead and he swore Akashi's eye had become a bright orange. Then, almost as if it had never happened, his eye faded back to a red.

Akashi held his hand up to his remaining eye and grunted. _Now is not the time... but yes, I too acknowledge that this man is suspicious. It isn't just you._

"Doctor Stein, you seem to be awfully against us coming. Is there a problem with capable fighters going to gain evidence of a missing friend's whereabouts?"

"N-no, but... you might get hurt."

Akashi slammed the phone back into place. Anger suddenly replaced with kindness, he turned to the receptionist and asked quietly, "May I ask where the security room is located?"

She gulped. "I-it's..." She slapped her own cheeks. "I'm sorry, but that's restricted information."

 _I didn't want to do this. but..._ "Do you know who I am? I'm from the _Akashi_ Company. I'm the heir, you see? I'm trying to conduct an investigation and you employees and preventing it. You know what that means, don't you?"

"The Akashi Company? You s-should've said so earlier! The security room is on floor 44. Here are the keys..."

"Thank you." He grabbed the keys and swirled them around his finger. He turned to the open mouthed GoM and said, "Now... should we get going?"

Kuroko came to in a warehouse room. _Where am I...?_ All he could remember was losing consciousness due to a lack of oxygen, and then...

A strong sense of déjà vu filled him. _No... were his friends going to be hurt again?_ He scanned his surroundings.

He was sitting on a chair, unchained, with a large group of men facing away in a circle around him. None of the men seemed to have any ill intent, but he couldn't be so sure.

He cautiously stood up from his chair. All the men whirled around to face him. "Stop right there."

"You didn't even restrain me, do you really want me to stay put?" Kuroko took a step forward.

"Don't take another step unless you want us to blow a hole through your head."

The teal headed teen frowned and froze where he stood. "You guys are pretty hostile. May I ask what you want?"

"We're just keeping you here until the time comes."

He cocked his head. "What is this 'time' you're referring to?"

The guards chuckled, "That's not something we can tell you."

Kuroko walked back to his chair resignedly. Seeing this gesture of forfeit, the guards once again turned their backs to him.

Kuroko scanned his surroundings again. _12 men, each about 4 meters away from me... no snipers in the upper levels of this warehouse, however there are plenty of boxes on this first level where more guards could be hiding behind, but I doubt it. The door is... pretty far away, but I might be able to make it out if the guards are unconscious or there's a distraction._

A dark smile made its way onto his face. _I'm a shadow... so they won't... notice me... right?_

He silently stood up from his perch and made his way to the guard directly to the left of him. Strangely enough, his only weapons hung loose from a belt. Kuroko easily removed them and carried them in his hand. _Eleven more to go._

The GoM stood outside the security room armed with scissors. They hadn't run into the Doctor, confirming Akashi's suspicions that he was in league with the kidnappers.

Putting his finger to his lips, he quietly put the key inside the lock and turned it. Then he opened the door as quickly as he could and chucked his scissors directly ahead of him. He heard a _plunk_ and then metal clattering on the floor.

They all carefully made their way inside. The room was abandoned, but there were traces of people being in their recently. Empty cup ramen bowls, jackets... the area was messy, as if people had rushed to get outside.

Midorima, Akashi, and Momoi ran to the control panel. Speaking in a hushed voice, Akashi commanded, "Turn on the video footage of rooms near Kuroko's, the entrances and exits, and the main rooms."

They worked quickly and efficiently, typing away and flicking switches off and on here and there. Finally, every room they were searching were displayed on separate screens.

The tension was palpable. Where was Kuroko?

Seconds of nothingness passed. Then, there was Kuroko- unlike in person, he was easy to spot with his light blue hair. Surrounded by burly men, he was dragged outside towards what Akashi believed would be the...

"Warehouses. He's somewhere in the warehouses."

The group marched out of the door and ran to the warehouses at the back of the hospital.

The small boy was proud of his work. He had stolen all of the guards' weapons, and not a single one of them noticed. He held one knife in his hand in case hand-to-hand combat went awry.

He approached a random man- at this point, it didn't matter who. He would take all of them down and get his own freedom.

He jumped up, grabbed the man's head, and brought it down to the floor using his weight and slammed it. A sickening _crack_ replaced the silence in the room, and all the guards stood alert.

They turned and shouted, "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" But they were yelling at empty air.

Kuroko was having a difficult time holding his laughter in; he was right in front of them, how did they not see him? He walked up to one and punched him right in the face.

"There he is! Get him!"

 _So they notice me now, huh?_ He nimbly dodged two punches coming towards his face and blocked one going for his stomach. He took a few steps back and disappeared into the shadows again.

"That damn kid... does he think he can escape by using misdirection? Grab your guns and shoo- thAT DAMN KID TOOK OUR DAMN GUNS!"

He giggled. _It's a good thing I moved the guns behind that box over there after I crushed that guy's skull... and it's a good thing I kept one on me..._

He rose his arm, took aim, and pulled the trigger. The bullet whizzed past a guard's face, leaving a gash and nothing more.

Kuroko sprinted to his nearest target and slammed his palm to his face as if he was passing a basketball. The man was knocked out cold and fell to the ground. _Ten more to go..._ He took a deep breath and picked up a random rock from the floor. He spun around and used the centrifugal force to send it catapulting to a guard to the right of him. The guard suddenly turned around and caught it. Two guards snuck up behind Kuroko and grabbed his arms, successfully restraining him for a moment. Because of his shortness, his feet did not touch the floor.

Kuroko pulled out the knife that he was hiding underneath the sleeve of his shirt and stabbed one of the men through their wrist. Howling in pain, that man let go of Kuroko's arm, and Kuroko spun around the man who still restrained him and kicked another nearby guard in the face. Panting, Kuroko used his knife to slash the calves of three nearby guards, rendering them immobile. _That's half of them, isn't it?_

"Kid, stop resisting!" A guard to his left punched him in his arm, making him stumble to the right. Yet another guard kicked him in the stomach, and he was sent flying backwards as a result of his light frame. He crashed into a metal box and slid to the floor. Groaning, he stood up again and pulled out the pistol. He aimed as best as he could and shot at their Achilles heels, hoping to disable them. He didn't want to actually _kill_ them, but he would if it was necessary.

His shot missed by a long shot. Hitting the metal box had busted a rib or two, and the pain was distracting him too much. When the guards grabbed him, he weakly punched them on the chest. It had no affect.

"Finally calmed down, huh? You scared us for a bit back there, kid. You disappeared on us and we would have been obliterated if you hadn't been emanating bloodlust. Why'd you fight us, kid?"

He coughed up blood. "I don't want it to be a repeat of last time. I'll immobilize anyone who poses a threat so no one can hurt them."

"Kid, we never said we'd hurt anyone."

" _They_ never said they'd hurt anyone either." Kuroko covered his face with his hands.

"Hey, kiddo, you alright? We kicked you pretty hard back there..."

But their words fell deaf on his ears. _What am I doing... this isn't like me... I'm just hurting people and not feeling remorseful at all! Ever since I... ever since I... killed Hanamiya-san..._

Tears streamed down his usually emotionless face. _Just what has gotten into me?_

He could feel himself being pulled back into his mindscape. _No... will he take over again? I can't let him... he's just going to hurt more people..._

His eyes opened to reveal that he was once again in the white room that he so feared. He could hear water dripping nearby, and by this point he was too tired to question it. He turned to the source of the sound and saw his other self.

"Konnichiwa, Kuroko-kun. You don't seem to be doing too well."

"Are you going to make me kill someone again?"

"I _told_ you this already, Kuroko-kun. It was your destructive thoughts and the explosion of your emotions that drove me to... you know what. You can think of me as your protective emotional barrier, I guess? I'm here so you can recover from your burst of emotion, but you took over faster than I expected. That's the least of our problems right now, though."

"Are you saying that our being surrounded is our first priority?"

"No, that's not it. Kuroko-kun, you've changed. You know that, right?"

"Yes, I think that's quite obvious. May I ask where you're going with this? We'll be in trouble if we're hurt, and it'll cause worry for the others. As much as I don't want to, we'll have to fight them off or escape, or do both."

"Kuroko-kun, can't we just wait for the others to come? I don't like hurting people either, you know."

"Yes, but how can they find us? It would be faster and more efficient to break out ourselves."

"It'd be safer for both parties if we stay put and let them come to us."

"We sho-"

"Kuroko." His green eye flickered maliciously. "Don't you think... you've lost faith in them?"

 _To be honest, I have no idea what just happened either._

 _I think this is my longest chapter, and fighting scenes are clearly not my forte ;-; I imagine them in manga format so writing them becomes a bit difficult ^u^'_


	18. Chapter 17

Kuroko's legs shook. "N-no... I trust them. I trust my teammates, my teammates whom I played basketball with. I trust them... there's no way..." But Kuroko had come to realize it himself. The truth was undeniable; there was a lot of evidence that he was losing faith. He didn't just hide himself when he was trying to get away from the guards, which he could have done; however, this required waiting for his friends to come find him and open the warehouse door from the outside. The door most likely made a lot of noise when being opened or closed, and Kuroko didn't want to take the chances of the attention of the gunmen who were supposed to keep him trapped in here turning to him about to escape.

So what was the next best thing to do, if you couldn't open the door and make it out safely by yourself? Fight the guards. Make them unable to attack you so you can leave freely. Maybe even get some information out of them, too.

Kuroko could tell that his actions were a betrayal of his absolute trust in his teammates. Although he didn't want to admit it, he had indeed lost faith once again. But what had they done for him to lose faith again, to believe that they weren't strong enough to depend on?

"Kuroko-kun." He smiled sympathetically. "You don't know why it's happened, do you?"

"I..." His eyes hovered over Nise-kun's face for a moment, but he found it hard to hold eye contact.

"You're just like how they were. Ironic, no?"

Kuroko neither denied nor confirmed this statement.

"The shadow who saved his teammates from their miserable states is now in that same state himself. After beating them in that game, your mentality has changed. 'I'm stronger than them, I can definitely win alone.' No, perhaps even before the game... winning while keeping your skills hidden may have made you self confident as well..."

Kuroko's pupils widened. This wasn't something that he could continue to reject. This was the truth, and the sooner he came to accept it, the better off both he and Nise-kun would be.

Kuroko looked at Nise-kun. "Sumimasen. Without realizing it, I've fallen to this miserable state myself. Is this how they felt, too?"

Nise-kun shrugged. "Who knows, me. How they felt is how they felt. But I think that it's about time that they return the favor."

Kuroko slightly smiled. "You aren't so bad after all, Nise-kun. Why didn't you tell me your true intentions the moment we met?"

The corners of his eyes crinkled as Nise-kun laughed. Unlike his previous mocking giggling and chuckling, this laugh was genuine- a tinkling sound, as if bells from the heavens themselves were ringing. "That's what I've been telling you all along. I always told you I wanted the best for you, didn't I? I am, after all..."

"...the embodiment of my emotion."

A light appeared between the two consciences. The brilliance of it momentarily blinded them, and when their eyes adjusted, they could see what was happening to their real form. Hand in hand, fully accepting the other, they strode toward the light.

As the two faded into the light, their shadows extended and merged into one.

"Maybe I should let you out more often."

"You definitely should."

Kuroko opened his eyes. His first action was to, once again, scan his surroundings. But this time, it was without malicious intent. He needed to check that he was safe, that the guards were still unarmed, that the Miracles would be unharmed if they did manage to find him.

 _No visible weapons, check. All with their backs to the door and focused on me, check. Still no snipers or hiding guards, check._

One way or another, he could sense that they were coming. He would just have to stall these guards so the Miracles could arrive before his "time" would.

The guards had wrapped his wounds in bandages and dressed them nicely. _Am I really a hostage or what?_ He had been bound to a new chair, and his hands and feet were locked in cuffs. The chair brought unpleasant memories to his head, but he fought the urge to lose control and remained calm.

"Ano... guard-san? Where exactly are we?"

"That isn't information that we are allowed to disclose."

Kuroko's torso throbbed with pain. He swore he could feel a bone poking him, but this was nothing compared to the pain his friends had felt. He would much rather _this_ than... he shuddered. There was no point to thinking about this. It would only make him unstable again.

The teal headed boy's anxiety grew as the silence around them thickened. The only sounds were the breathing of the guards and the occasional clinking of the guard's boots on the cold, metal ground.

"May I ask what exactly this 'time' that you keep on referring to is?"

"Not of importance. Just know that we won't lay a finger on your or your friends as long as you don't try to attack us."

"What happened to those guys that I... knocked around?"

"Knocked around?" Some guards chuckled upon hearing these words, and others were filled with rage. "I wouldn't say that you simply knocked our friends around. In any case, they've been sent to the hospital you were currently at. But you've already killed a person, so killing more shouldn't have much affect on you, no?"

Kuroko remained silent. _Nise-kun. Could you come here for a second?_

 _Anytime, myself. Whaddya want?_

 _I need you to help me regulate my stability and emotions. I'll even let you out right now._

 _Woah, really? Sweet! Sure, I'll help._

 _Arigato, Nise-kun._

A sad smile appeared on Kuroko's face. "Guard-sans. Does this look like the face of a killer who enjoyed what he did?"

As usual, just one guard answered him. "I don't see any remorse in your eyes, so yes."

A lone tear streaked down from teal eyes. These tears were always shed for his teammates, and they were this time as well. The pain they went through because of him, the troubles he caused them by killing that man... and the pain he had caused a certain Hanamiya-san.

Yes, he definitely deserved that death- Kuroko, although upset about it, would always believe in this. But Hanamiya was also a comrade in following passions; in the end, he did what he wanted to do. Kuroko wanted the Miracles to accept the concept of teamwork and fun over victory. Hanamiya wanted to see others suffering. When morals come in, things become different; but all the same, Kuroko and Hanamiya, the boy himself realized begrudgingly, were similar in more ways than one.

He stared into the guard's eyes. "There is nothing that has ever rattled me this much, sir."

The guard stared at him impassively, "Is that so..."

Silence once again filled the complex. The guards themselves had grown tired and sat on top of nearby, shorter crates. A relaxed air filled the compound Kuroko couldn't help but think, _If there's a good time for them to come for me, it'd be right around now._

The rainbow teens hid behind a large dumpster, struggling to control their short breaths. They had just gotten away from a very close encounter with armed men, and a two of them had been injured.

Aomine's right bicep had been slashed at with a knife, and now had a rather deep cut in it. Midorima had been nicked by a bullet (thankfully, it wasn't enough for him to start bleeding like a fountain).

Kise, uncharacteristically serious, was ripping his shirt into strips. "Aominecchi," he whispered, "stretch our your arm."

Wincing, Aomine did as he was told. Kise quickly and precisely wrapped up his wound. "Oi, Kise. Where'd you learn how to wrap injuries like this?"

"I've seen people doing this on dramas. I was just using Perfect Copy."

Midorima raised his glasses and shot, "We need to hurry. If those dangerous people are around here, who knows what happened to Kuroko."

At this moment, an extremely loud yell came from a warehouse very close to them. Akashi motioned with his hand for them to follow him and silently ran to the source of the sound, which the group had immediately identified as Kuroko.

The yell led to a large warehouse, perhaps the largest one out of those in this area. Akashi knew without a doubt that the large metal doors would create some sort of sound that would attract attention. Whether or not they'd be able to infiltrate successfully depended on their friend who was inside.

The group grabbed the handle all together. Before pulling, Akashi whispered one unheard statement, "I swear that I'll save you, my..."

Kuroko could not stop panting. As far as he could remember, that was the loudest he had ever shouted. In hindsight, he realized that shouting was not such a great idea. Despite the desperate need of a distraction, he didn't know if his friends were nearby or if the guards would take further measures to bind him. He also didn't anticipate that this would hurt his already throbbing chest.

"Kiddo, what's wrong?" The guards rushed over to him, hopping off of crates and leaving some valuables behind as well.

It hadn't escaped Kuroko's keen eyes that the guards were taking off their jackets and setting some hidden weapons (that he himself had not noticed before) atop the crates. They were also in a state of confusion now that Kuroko had suddenly started to shout.

"Hey, kiddo? Hey!" The guards' confusion was apparent.

Not entirely faking it, Kuroko gasped, "It helps... alleviate the pain. Takes my... mind off of it."

The guards eyed him with suspicion. Although his explanation did make some sense, they had an inkling that he wasn't telling the entire truth. The majority of the guards concentrated on watching Kuroko and very few were focused on the entrance.

Amidst this, Kuroko was the only one who noticed the door opening little by little. It was eventually open just enough for seven teenagers to slip in.

Kuroko locked eyes with Akashi and knew that if he couldn't keep a firm rein on the guards' attentions, they would all be screwed over.

 _Nise-kun, would you like to bust up these chains for me?_

 _Hell yeah! I'll break us outta here in a jiffy._

The teal headed boy hung his head downwards so that his eye's change in color would not be seen. Gulping, Nise-kun ran through all the different scenarios that could occur if he failed in his head. The pressure was surrounding him, but he knew that he had to pull through.

Nise-kun clenched his teeth and pulled his wrists and ankles apart with as much force as he could. He could feel the gazes of the now slightly panicking guards and the beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, but he did not stop.

The moment when the chains broke apart was when he would be able to rest. He could feel that it was close now, and with one final spurt of energy, he successfully broke free. The guards were surrounding him so that he would at least stay bound to the chair, but it was fruitless. He abruptly stood up and the shackles that bound him shattered. _Kuroko-kun, passing the saddle back to you._

The boy concentrated on all the motion around him. The guards were reluctant to manhandle him because of the damage he had taken before. He could see multiple spots he could escape to where he would be in all of their blind spots, and no one seemed to notice the crack of light that expanded towards them from the entrance.

Taking a deep breath, he leaned down low and ignored the stabbing sensations that inevitably came with doing so. The seconds that passed by between each footstep felt like years, and the pain was threatening to overtake him. The boy strengthened his resolve and dashed between all the guards, all of whom could not see him due to his misdirection.

Just to be safe, he sprinted into the depths of the crates, where he assumed the others would be waiting. Since he was safe for now, he ceased his running and instead walked slowly while clutching onto the sides of crates.

Sure enough, he saw the colorful teenagers waiting for him hidden in the shadow of a particularly large crate. He could see that they had been injured on their way to where he was, but they seemed unperturbed by them. Instead, their faces lit up the moment they saw him and they rushed forward to greet him.

None of them said a word, but they silently exchanged words of relief and happiness. Kuroko noticed Aomine holding onto a round object about the size of a handball and cocked his head. Akashi nodded in Aomine's direction and,using his uninjured arm, threw it right into the center of the enemy.

"Smoke bomb," he quietly explained. Kuroko stared at him, dumbfounded. Just where did they manage to procure a smoke bomb from? Was it Akashi? Even still, this was outrageous, for kids to be holding onto weapons, but at least it had provided them with a means of escape.

Noticing Kuroko's pain, Midorima gently picked him up and they sprinted out of the entrance together. The others followed immediately after, and they rushed into a dark alleyway formed between the warehouse they had just left and one that was right next to it.

While the others seemed to be fine, Kuroko most certainly was not. The adrenaline left his body all at once, and the pain he was feeling was even more pronounced. His shaking legs could no longer support him and as he fell to the ground, the world around him slowly became a pitch black.

 _i regret nothing_


	19. Chapter 18

Before anyone else could even realize what was happening, Akashi leapt forward and caught Kuroko in his arms. His skin was sickly pale and beads of sweat were rolling off his forehead in great multitudes. A strand of hair was stuck to his face.

Akashi gently picked him up and brushed the hair aside. "Kuroko?"

His breath grew increasingly ragged, unable to speak. He weakly smiled and managed to wheeze out, "Don't... worry." But this only made them more anxious.

"Midorima! What injuries does he have at this moment?"

"He.. a few broken ribs, it's possible that they pierced his lungs, other broken bones, some flesh wounds (but it looks like they were created from his bones poking his skin)..."

They all grimaced. "Let's get Kurokocchi out of here for now and discuss all this later, shall we?"

The group escaped the warehouse district frighteningly easily. Was he not being guarded by armed men? Why was it so easy to leave? Not to mention that it was extremely quiet. They worried about countless things but managed to slip out unnoticed nonetheless.

"Akashi," Aomine whispered, "I think we should bring him to your family's hospital this time."

"You... said something smart for once."

"You shouldn't be talking!"

"This isn't the time to be arguing!" Momoi interjected. "Akashi-kun, could you call a chauffeur? I think that'd be faster and safer than running there on foot."

Akashi passed Kuroko to Midorima and quickly whipped out his phone. "Hello, is this Juro? Yes, could you come to..."

It seemed like an eternity. Kuroko's breaths grew shorter and sharper and it was obvious that he was in pain. His eyes were unfocused and his consciousness was fading away. "Oi, Kuroko! Don't fall asleep on us now! We need you awake!"

"Tetsu-kun..."

He burst into a coughing fit. Midorima tightened his hold and his eyes didn't miss the blood that came flying out from his mouth. "Akashi! Is he here yet?"

"He should be here any seco- there he is!"

As they ran to the posh limousine, their minds in disarray, Midorima was the only one who realized that Akashi not calling his chauffeur the moment they secured Kuroko was strange. He would have normally stayed calm and collected, no matter which Akashi he was. And what he was muttering before. Just what were those two to each other?

"Mmmm..." The teal headed boy stirred from his deep sleep. He slowly opened his eyes.

Seven heads whipped around and stared at him in silence.

"A whiiite ceeeeeiling, weird cuuuurtains, and a looooot of machiiiiines! Whereeee aaam I?" Drowsy from his anesthesia which hadn't completely worn off just yet, his words slurred.

The teenagers that had so anxiously waited for him to awaken had all of their tension released in one moment and went into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

"I have to record this and show it to him later," Aomine snorted.

"This is so out of character..." Kagami clutched the wall and tried his hardest to suppress his laughter, but it ended up coming out in sudden loud shouts.

"T-Tetsu-kun... s-so cute!"

"It doesn't look like he'd be able to hold his lucky item if I gave it to him nanodayo."

"Kuuro-chiiiin... your hair looks like cotton candy..."

"Kurokocchi! You're awake!" Kise jumped towards Kuroko's hospital bed in an attempt to hug him. Unfortunately for him, Akashi caught him before he reached his destination and blocked his path.

"Kise. He has _broken ribs_ and you're going to hug him?"

"Oh." Kise withdrew and returned to his seat.

Akashi was the only one who remained standing. He walked over to the bed and kneeled down, leaning his face close to Kuroko's. The others looked on in surprise.

"Ohaiyo, Kuroko. How do you feel?"

"I feeeeel greaaat!" Kuroko turned his head toward Akashi. "Oh? It's Seiiii-kuuuun!"

"S-Sei-kun?!" Everyone gasped in shock. Akashi moved back a tiny bit.

"Wow... you look... really hot today..." He smiled.

"W-what? Kuroko what are you sayin-" He blushed slightly and his stuttering did not go unnoticed.

Kuroko propped his arm up on the bed railings and whispered, "I'm saying that you're really smokin' hot."

"Kuroko, you should go back to sleep."

"No need to be shy." Kuroko reached out his arm and dragged Akashi towards him by the shirt.

The others, watching silently, thought, _I hope he doesn't kill him._

Completely different from what the others had been expecting, Akashi chuckled and smiled affectionately at Kuroko. He ruffled his hair and said, "Just go to sleep. We can talk later."

Kuroko pouted and slid back onto his mattress. Within seconds of his eyes closing, he was fast asleep.

An awkward silence filled the room. Akashi did not turn around to look at the others; he did not want to see their smirks. He thumbed the edge of his eyepatch and announced, "He'll be asleep for a while longer so we might as well go eat food now."

"Pft..."

Akashi whirled around, face red. "Who was the person who laughed just now?"

No one made a sound, but all of their faces were red from holding their laughter in. Akashi pulled out his scissors and repeated, "Who was the person who laughed just now?"

 _three years later_

Akashi stood on the balcony of his summer home, looking out at the gentle waves that were lightly pounding against the shoreline. The flapping of seagulls overhead and the smell of the ocean never failed to give him a feeling of serenity.

"Sei-kun!"

Akashi turned around to face the caller. "Kuroko," he smiled. "How do you like this house?"

"It's very nice."

"I'm sorry, if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have ever been..."

"No, it wasn't your fault. You're doing more than enough for me right now by taking care of me, anyway."

"Okay..." Knowing that it would be useless to continue further, he stopped talking. But to him, he would never be convinced.

Three years ago, Kuroko had been kidnapped by a large group of men. Until the previous year, the Miracles were clueless about what the reason was for his kidnapping. His family wasn't rich, and if they were people related to Hanamiya who were thirsting for revenge, he would have been hurt instead of simply being held safely in a warehouse.

He was kidnapped because of Akashi, because of _him._ Spies noticed that Akashi and Kuroko spent a lot of time together and realized how much Kuroko meant to the red haired teen. The plan was to take advantage of this and drag Akashi out, kidnap _him_ in exchange for Kuroko, and then demand a ransom. Of course, this plan of theirs went awry when Kuroko fought back and the Miracles were able to find him. But still, he had put Kuroko's well being in danger. Additionally, Kuroko was unable to play basketball for a while after his injuries.

The least Akashi could do was take Kuroko in and keep him by his side, where he was easiest to protect. This way, he'd be able to react right away if he were to go missing or be hurt.

But besides that, he just... loved having him by his side.

"Ne, Tetsuya?"

"Hai, Sei-kun?"

Akashi raised his palm to Kuroko's face and gently turned his face away from the ocean and towards him. Caressing his face, he leaned in and whispered, "I love you."

Face tomato red but face emotionless, Kuroko stood still in shock. They had been dating for several years now, but this was the first time he had said the words that he most wanted to hear. Filled with elation, his poker face was replaced with a small smile and his stagnant breathing was replaced with the words that the two of them had been waiting an eternity for:

"You are my other half. Without you, I can't survive. I need you here by my side,

and I just wanted you to know...

I love you."


	20. author's note (not really important)

Hello, everyone!

Thank you for all the kind reviews. I'll be sure to keep everything in mind for the next legitimate fanfic that I write.

Regarding the reading issues that a lot of people had, I re-uploaded the affected chapters and they should be okay now. It's really a shame though. I've been trying different things for chapter 16 but for some reason I can't add formatting to it... :L

This was actually something I already had written and just copy pasted to this site, and that probably caused all the chapter issues where there as a bunch of coding.

Thank you for reading!


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